29 August 2013 (mongabay.com) – Nearly 500 fires are burning across the Indonesian island of Sumatra, raising fears that choking air pollution could return to Singapore and Malaysia. The fires, set to clear land for agriculture, are concentrated in Riau, Jambi, and South Sumatra provinces. Like the fires that charred the region two months ago, […]
By Rhett A. Butler3 September 2013 (mongabay.com) – Conversion of forests for palm oil production now appears to be the single largest driver of deforestation in Indonesia, accounting for roughly a quarter of forest loss between 2009 and 2011, asserts a new Greenpeace report that accuses the sector’s main certification standard of failing to stop […]
28 August 2013 (USFS) – Time-lapse photography shows various perspectives of the 2013 Rim Fire, as viewed from Yosemite National Park. The first part of this video is from the Crane Flat Helibase. The fire is currently burning in wilderness and is not immediately threatening visitors or employees. The second half of the video is […]
By Elga Reyes 28 August 2013 (Eco-Business) – The province of Riau in Sumatra, Indonesia has been covered in smog since early this week when the number of fire hotspots spiked at 488, the highest level in two months following Southeast Asia’s worst haze pollution in 16 years. The smoke, mostly contained in the provincial […]
By Adam Voiland27 August 2013 (NASA) – On 26 August 2013, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of the Rim fire burning in and near Yosemite National Park. Red outlines indicate hot spots where MODIS detected unusually warm surface temperatures associated with fire. Rim Fire, California Technorati Tags: […]
24 August 2013 (MAFFS) – MAFFS 4 Rim Fire on 23 August 2013 at 16:15. MAFFS 4 Rim Fire on 23Aug2013 at 16:15146AW Channel Islands Air National GuardUS Forest Service Cal FIREAerial Firefighting MAFFS 6 Rim Fire 23Aug13 1615 Technorati Tags: California,North America,forest fire,wildfire,drought,global warming,climate change
By Holli Riebeek26 August 2013 (NASA) – The winter of 2013 was among the driest on record for California, setting the stage for an active fire season. By August 26, the Rim Fire had made its way into the record books. At just 15 percent contained, the fire is now the 13th largest in California […]
By Jeff Barnard, with additional writing by Matthew Daly in Washington21 August 2013 GRANTS PASS, Oregon (AP) – Running out of money to fight wildfires at the peak of the season, the U.S. Forest Service is diverting $600 million from timber, recreation, and other areas to fill the gap. The nation’s top wildfire-fighting agency was […]
By Dan Elliott, with contributions from Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, N.M., and Bob Christie in Phoenix27 August 2013 MANITOU SPRINGS, Colorado (AP) – Drenching rain in the wildfire-blackened hills below Colorado’s Pikes Peak sent a torrent of rock and mud into the tourist town of Manitou Springs this month, killing a 53-year-old man and […]
From Nick Valencia, Catherine E. Shoichet, and Phil Gast25 August 2013 Yosemite National Park, California (CNN) – Susan Loesch and Curtis Evans just started settling into their second home in California’s Sierra foothills a few months ago. Now, they’re worried it could go up in smoke as a massive wildfire spreads. “This is kind of […]
